64 PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 



i 



It is impossible to devise a shoe that will successfully 

 meet every requirement. The heavy draught - horse, 

 doomed to bring into play every muscle in endeavoring 

 to move and drag along an enormous load, must have his 

 feet differently armed to the hunter or race-horse, with 

 which speed is the chief requisite. Taking into account 

 the different character of the horny textures, it is none the 

 less true, however, that the same rule holds good in all 

 with regard to the sole and frog sustaining weight, though 

 in the slow-moving animal it is of less importance, per- 

 haps, than in the lighter and more fleet one. The mas- 

 sive draught-horse requires toe and heel projections or 

 " catches " on the ground-surface of the shoes, to econo- 

 mize his locomotive powers and to aid his powerful 

 efforts ; though his hoofs none the less require the observ- 

 ance of those conservative principles which have been so 

 strongly insisted upon, but which are so very seldom ap- 

 plied. 



To give the greatest amount of strength and foothold 

 to the shoes of the heavy draught-horse, with the least 

 amount of weight, should be an object always kept in 

 view in making them. But, with this animal, the princi- 

 pal object is the preservation of the wall of the hoof in 

 order that it may remain sound and strong for the reten- 

 tion of the nails ; to assist in effecting this, the sole and 

 frog must be preserved intact. 



The form of the shoe in all cases should in outline 

 resemble the shape of the ground-surface of the hoof. It 

 has been decided that its upper surface must be flat from 

 the outer to the inner margin. For horses other than 

 those of heavy draught, its width will of course vary ; 

 but it is an advantage to have it as narrow as is compati- 

 ble, in relation to its thickness, with the amount of wear 

 required from it. 



The ground-face of the shoe is the next point for con- 



